Complaint
The channel’s output that day included a ticker tape which read “Donald Trump describes Kamala Harris as a radical liberal and a bum”. A viewer complained this was an inaccurate and biased summary of his speech and inappropriate language to include before the watershed. The ECU considered whether the coverage met the relevant standards set out in the Editorial Guidelines.
Outcome
The impartiality guidelines allow that output may legitimately focus on a particular aspect of any issue, provided there is a clear editorial justification for doing so. The ECU noted the line accurately highlighted a significant aspect of a speech and other points were drawn out in the wider reporting on the channel throughout the morning. It did not therefore agree with the complainant that the reference served to endorse hate-speech nor that it was indicative of bias. The language used, however unpalatable to some, did not in the ECU’s view breach generally accepted standards for the time of broadcast.
Not Upheld